In 255-67 vote, House places Holder in contempt of Congress By Jordy Yager and Pete Kasperowicz - 06/28/12 04:37 PM ET The House voted Thursday to place Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for not complying with a congressional subpoena. Seventeen Democrats bucked party lines and voted with Republicans to pass a criminal contempt resolution in a 255-67 vote. House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) pushed that resolution as part of his 16-month investigation into a botched Fast and Furious gun-tracking operation. Only two Republicans voted no on the measure, while 65 Democrats recorded...

Below is the letter that House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., sent to President Obama on Monday questioning the White House's use of executive privilege over subpoenaed documents related to Operation 'Fast and Furious.' Rep. Darrell Issa's Letter to President Obama

Rep. Darrell Issa threw down the gauntlet to President Obama in a letter to the president that accuses him of being involved in the Fast and Furious operation. The Hill: Issa took issue with Obama's assertion of executive privilege over a cache of documents at the Department of Justice - including a February 2011 letter later withdrawn by the agency - that Issa believes includes information on Holder's role in Fast and Furious. "Either you or your most senior advisers were involved in managing Operation Fast and Furious and the fallout from it, including the false Feb. 4, 2011 letter...

This new video called "Blind Alleys" was released today and details how the investigation of gunwalking under Operation Fast and Furious being conducted by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has been based on a series of unfounded claims and unsubstantiated allegations that turned out to be inaccurate after investigation.

In case readers didn't already realize it ... it's on. The Daily Caller has a letter sent by House Oversight Chair Darrell Issa to President Barack Obama challenging the assertion of executive privilege in the investigation of Operation Fast and Furious. In the letter, Issa tells Obama that the assertion means one of two things: either the highest levels of the White House were involved in the effort to mislead Congress on OF&F, or Obama is deliberately obstructing the investigation: Â“[Y]our privilege assertion means one of two things,Â” Issa wrote to the president in a letter dated June 25. Â“Either...

On Sunday's NBC Meet the Press, moderator David Gregory led the show's panelists in dismissing the House Government Oversight Committee holding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt over the Fast and Furious gun-walking scandal as a mere political "distraction" created by Republicans. [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump] The committee's chairman, California Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, was also on the panel and interrogated by Gregory: "If you got everything you wanted, what do you think it would prove?....What would you be able to prove? I mean what the White House is saying is this is...

The big question from last week's assertion of executive privilege by Barack Obama was what, exactly, was so troublesome that the White House couldn't have Attorney General Eric Holder release it. It certainly wasn't to protect the precedent of confidentiality of presidential advice; Obama and Holder have insisted that the President had no knowledge of Operation Fast and Furious until it made the headlines. Even the assertion of privilege attempted to skirt that issue by relying on deliberative process rather than direct presidential privilege, although it seems almost certain that deliberative process won't shield Holder and others at executive agencies....

Via Jammie Wearing Fool, the numbers are as brutal as he says. In a poll taken by The Hill after last week’s assertion of executive privilege by Barack Obama in the Operation Fast and Furious probe, only 29% of likely voters supported Obama’s move to block access to Department of Justice documentation, while a clear majority disapproved: A clear majority of likely voters believes President Obama has exercised his executive power inappropriately — particularly in blocking the release of documents relating to Operation Fast and Furious, according to a new poll for The Hill. … The Hill Poll found that...

Congressman Darrell Issa is leading the investigation into the Fast & Furious ATF scandal and his committee recommended Attorney General Eric Holder for contempt charges, but he admitted to Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday today that so far, there is no evidence connecting the scandal directly to the White House and Obama administration. Wallace played a clip of House Speaker John Boehner saying that the invocation of executive privilege is “an admission” of guilt on the part of the White House. Wallace asked Issa directly if “any evidence” currently supports the claim that White House officials were at all...

Learn More at http://FastAndFuriousInvestigation.com Oversight Watchdog Darrell Issa (R-CA) discusses Attorney General Eric Holder's stonewalling of the truth about Operation Fast and Furious, President Obama's assertion of executive privilege over the deadly gun walking operation documents, and next week's vote in the US House of Representatives to hold AG Holder in contempt of Congress. 6-24-12: ABC News' This Week

The White House said a former National Security staffer who communicated with ATF's Special Agent in charge of "Fast and Furious" cannot be interviewed by Congressional investigators. The ATF Special Agent, Bill Newell, testified to Congress in July 2011 that he's a longtime friend with then-White House National Security Staffer Kevin O'Reilly. The two emailed and talked on the phone during the controversial Fast and Furious gunwalking operation, according to documents and Newell's testimony to Congress. In one email exchange about Fast and Furious on Feb. 11, 2011 O'Reilly asked Newell, "Would ATF be willing to put you or others...

The Merida Initiative is the, and was the, basis for the 2008 HR-6028 Bill which specifically funded "Project Gunrunner." Darrell Issa pretends he has never heard of Project Gunrunner, yet in 2008 he specifically voted to fund Project Gunrunner. Apparently, there is more than just a huge connection between Merida Initiative and Project Gunrunner whereby Project Gunrunner funding, per HR-6028, is directly enveloped into the Merida Initiative. In October 2007, President Bush and President announced the Mérida Initiative, is a Billions of dollar aid package to support Mexico's President Calderón's war on drugs by, among other things, sending military grade...

Last night, radio host Mark Levin outlined the five steps that should now be taken to compel Attorney General Eric Holder to produce Operation Fast and Furious documents. “There is no need for Senate action,” Levin explained. Instead, he said, a civil lawsuit should be pursued by House Oversight Committee Chair Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). Levin outlined what he believes is “the right way to proceed”: 1. Hold Holder in contempt by resolution of the House. 2.Seek authorization from the House for the Committee to proceed by civil action to compel production of the documents. 3.Chairman Issa should file suit in...

The Rethuglicans can't stand having a black man in the White House. The Rethuglicans can't stand having a black man as Attorney General. The Rethuglicans can't stand having a black man--or two black men--selling guns to Mexican drug lords. Racism--that's what's really behind this manufactured Fast and Furious "scandal." And so you have this "House Oversight Committee" and their "Chairman" Issa going on a witchhunt to take down Our President. How dare the Oversight Committee try to exercise some oversight! Who do they think they are? Really! "Oversight"? They're more like the Committee to Overthrow and Unelect the President...

At Pelosi’s weekly press conference this morning, she made the point several times that there was a huge difference between George W. Bush asserting Executive Privilege over the firing of US Attorneys and Obama using it yesterday. When asked what the differences were she deferred to Elijah Cummings on the issue. But then she took a moment to tell the press what this contempt vote was really about, to stop Holder from fighting voter suppression in this country: Contempt of Congress? Contempt of Congress? To frivolously use that really important vehicle to undermine the person who’s assigned to stop the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Both House Republican officials and Attorney General Eric Holder say they're willing to negotiate an end to a potential constitutional confrontation in a dispute related to the botched "Fast and Furious" gun-tracking operation. The conflict turned nastier Wednesday, when a House committee voted to hold the attorney general in contempt and President Barack Obama invoked executive privilege to avoid turning over some documents related to the operation. However, House Republican leaders said they were willing to negotiate if the administration turned over more emails and memos. And Holder said Thursday that resolving the conflict through negotiation was...

CBS News has learned that the family of ICE Special Agent Jaime Zapata has filed a claim for wrongful death against the Justice Dept. and other federal agencies. Zapata was gunned down by suspected drug cartel members in Mexico in Feb. 2011 with weapons later linked to an ATF case in the Texas area. Joining the claim is Zapata's surviving partner in the attack: Victor Avila. In an interview last November, Zapata's family told CBS News they feel that U.S. law enforcement could have stopped the sale of a gun used to kill their son. CBS News obtained law enforcement...

Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation "Fast and Furious" to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales. PICTURES: ATF "Gunwalking" scandal timeline In Fast and Furious, ATF secretly encouraged gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels to go after the "big fish." But ATF whistleblowers told CBS News and Congress it was a dangerous practice called "gunwalking," and it put thousands of weapons on the street. Many were used in violent crimes in Mexico. Two were found at the murder...

The Republicans shamelessly turned what should be a routine matter into a pointless constitutional confrontation. And the White House responded as most administrations do at some point: it invoked executive privilege to make a political problem go away. (snip) Executive privilege cannot and should not be allowed to shield the executive branch from regular, valuable Congressional oversight. There was no reason the House committee and the Justice Department could not work out a deal to produce the documents requested, or some form of them. Instead, they show again that every issue, large or small, can be turned into ammunition for...